Intent

At Holy Family, through our Modern Foreign Language (French) we strive for excellence so that all children are given an opportunity to reach their individual potential in preparation for their lives in the wider community.

Our school follows the Duolingo for schools program.

It is our intention through the learning a modern foreign language to provide a valuable rich educational, cultural and social experience and to help all pupils develop their interests and curiosity in the similarities and differences between themselves and others, and a broader perspective on the world which feeds into our whole school ethos where different cultures are represented.

This includes learning about countries, cultures, people and communities. Learning another language, helps pupils to extend their communication skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing with an aim of making progress and enhancing self-esteem and confidence. Learning another language develops an understanding and respect for diversity, removing barriers between cultures. It is also an opportunity to look at shared values and aspirations, such as personal liberty, democracy and the rule of law.

It can help us understand that the particular blend of values we cherish is not universal, but is the result of ongoing social and historical collective choices.

Implementation

French is incorporated into the curriculum from Year 3, though it is introduced in both EYFS and KS1. Children develop their love of language learning and develop skills throughout their time in school.

In KS2, children are taught weekly by their class teacher. Details of topics covered in each year group can be found on the MFL curriculum map, which is supported by the Duolingo programme.

Our MFL curriculum has been designed to progressively develop skills in French. These ensure children acquire a bank of vocabulary organized around topics. They ensure development is progressive as they build on previous knowledge from units already studied. Our children learn through active participation in actions, rhymes, stories, songs, grammar focus, video clips, sentence structure, dictionary work, bookmaking and many more creative ways to extend, embed and combine language skills.

Every year, we celebrate ‘Bastille Day’ on 14th July (Fête Nationale)

It is part of our school ethos and values, to celebrate cultural diversity within our school and the wider community, as well as to promote the Catholic ethos and British Values through mutual respect and tolerance of others regardless of culture, faith or background.

Some simple British Sign Language has also been introduced in EYFS.

Impact

Our French curriculum will ensure all pupils develop key language learning skills, as set out by the national curriculum, as well as a love of languages and learning about other cultures.

These are as follows:

Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources

Speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation

Can write at varying lengths, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt

Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied